Fantastic Feasts: Blast off with Galaxy Bread and Space Jam

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Mankind has always looked at the dark starry night sky with wonder and awe, and it’s no secret why: It’s easy to find endless inspiration in those inky depths peppered with twinkling stars. But what about when you’re stuck at your desk and feeling the pre-lunch slump? Where do you turn for cosmic inspiration then?

Your lunch sack!

Say what?!

Making a fresh loaf of quick and tasty galaxy swirl bread is simple, and when you add on a heaping pile of sweet starry ginger pear Space Jam (yeah ... I went there). It’s out of this world!

To make your very own easy swirled galaxy bread you will need the following items:

5 Cups flour

2 ¼ Cups warm (not boiling) water

1 Tablespoon active dry yeast

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

Black food coloring

Pink food coloring

Blue food coloring

Purple food coloring

if you want to skip the whole 100% from scratch thing with your bread, feel free to grab a box of bread mix and jump ahead a few steps...follow the instructions on the box and rejoin the rest of the class when we start adding in the colors.

You will also need:

Large bowl (to mix your dough in)

dish towel (big enough to fully cover the top of your mixing bowl)

Measuring cups

Rolling pin

Water Bottle Spritzer (optional)

Spoon (to stir stuff with)

Bread Pan

Oven Mitts or hot pads (baked bread is HOT! Safety first!)

In a bowl, mix together your yeast, sugar, and water thoroughly. Allow them to rest for 5-10 minutes. As they rest, you will see the yeast activate and begin to foam and release bubbles. Gradually add in your salt, flour, and oil to the foaming mixture.

As you mix, your dough will come together into one large lump which should be elastic, but not too sticky.

Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly for about 2-3 minutes or until it is smooth and soft.

Pat your dough into a ball and place into a bowl. Cover with a towel and allow it to rest undisturbed for 45 minutes to an hour.

After you have allowed it to rest, it should have doubled in size.

Divide your dough into two equal pieces.

Using your black food coloring, knead the color into one of your dough balls until it achieves a uniform black hue. (Be aware that kneading black dye...or any color dye for that matter...on certain surfaces can result in stains. Be careful when making this bread on wooden surfaces as well as some porous stone surfaces (granite). If in doubt, lay down a layer of waxed paper to help protect your workspace.

Take the other, uncolored half of dough and divide it into three equal pieces.

Using your pink, purple and blue food colors, dye those until you have a hue you are happy with.

You should now have four balls of colored dough, 1 black, 1 pink, 1 purple and 1 blue. Pretty!

Using a rolling pin, roll out your dough until each piece is roughly 1/2 inch thick and roughly the length of your bread pan.

Stack them on top of each other in a cascading pile starting with black, then purple, then blue and ending with pink.

To help ensure the bread sticks well to each layer, you can spritz the dough lightly with water as you set down each piece.

Starting at one end, gently roll your dough into a log, making sure that the black dough is on the outside of your roll.

Tuck under your ends and place it into a well greased and floured bread pan.

Cover your bread pan with a towel and allow it to remain undisturbed for an additional 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat your oven to 450F/230C.

With a knife, gently score the top of your dough to allow steam to escape while cooking.

Cover the bread pan with aluminum foil, making sure it’s not touching the actual dough itself. Once your oven is at temperature, slide your bread pan in and cook your dough for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, remove the foil and allow the bread to cook uncovered for an additional 7-10 minutes.

Once your bread is done cooking, remove from the oven and allow it to cool for about 15 minutes.

Run a knife around the edges of your cooled bread and gently turn the pan upside down. It should pop right out.

Hmm...doesn’t look like much right now...

...but take a bread knife and slice off a piece and look what you get…

Oooh! Pretty!

Slice your bread and serve it warm with butter and cosmic space jam with star sparkles.

Wait...you don’t have cosmic space jam with star sparkles?

Well then, let’s make some!

For space jam you will need:

2 Cups canned pears drained and mashed. (You can also use fresh if you want, but canned is very easy)

¼ Cup pear juice (save this when you drain your can of pears) Can also substitute 1/4 Cup apple juice if using fresh pears.

Start by first mixing your pears, pear juice, lemon juice, lemon peel, ginger, pectin and cinnamon in a pot over medium heat. Allow the mixture to come to a boil and stir continuously to prevent scorching.

Add in your sugar and stir until fully dissolved.

Bring the mixture up again to a full boil and allow to cook for one minute.

As the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes fully incorporated, you should notice it starting to take on a translucent quality. It should be a light gold color at this point.

Remove from heat and add in your vanilla.

Pour your jam into a heat safe container and put it into the fridge to cool for at least an hour.

Once your jam is cooled, sprinkle it with your star glitter and stir to mix.

Slather a good spoonful of your space jam onto your warm galaxy bread, add some more star sprinkles, and enjoy!

If you have any space jam left over, it’s also excellent on ice cream and as a topper for oatmeal and yogurt. Store any uneaten space jam in the fridge in a sealed container for up to two weeks (if it lasts that long!)

P.S. This bread is good for more than just Space Jam! Slap down a few slabs of cheese, add some leafy green lettuce, slather on some mayo and mustard and squeeze some slices of ham in there between some of your amazing cosmic crust and you’ve made yourself more than just a sandwich...it’s Pigs in Space!

Bwahaahaaa! Okay, I’m done.

Enjoy!

How did your Galaxy Bread come out? Share your pics with Fangrrls on Twitter or Instagram.

Feel like whipping up more cool food and other random things? You can follow Tye on Twitteror check out her food blog, The Necro Nom-nom-nomicon where she makes all sorts of tasty but disgusting-looking things.